After the Kamehameha boys canoe paddling team started the season with second- and fifth-place finishes, the championship picture appeared as murky for the Warriors as the nearby Ala Wai Canal waters in which ILH competitors race.
However, the Warriors rallied to win four consecutive races, including Tuesday afternoon’s final event of the season and edged rival Punahou to claim the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title in dramatic fashion.
Entering Tuesday’s race, Kamehameha trailed Punahou by one point in the season standings. With each race victory carrying the weight of six points and runner-up finishes resulting in four points, the Warriors needed to win to secure the league crown.
Kamehameha came through and navigated the 3.5-mile course — stretching from outside Magic Island into the waters off Waikiki Beach and wrapping back around to finish adjacent to the Ala Wai Boat Harbor — in 18 minutes and 25 seconds. It was a mere second ahead of the second-place Buffanblu. Le Jardin (19:40) notched third place, and picked up a valuable berth into the state championship field, while Pac-Five (20:08) and Mid-Pacific (20:45) could not quite catch the Bulldogs.
Punahou actually beat Kamehameha to the channel-marking buoy that designates the race’s home stretch, but the Warriors increased their stroke rate, and with roughly 150 yards remaining, eked past and fended off the blue-and-yellow clad competitors in a thrilling all-out sprint.
"We had a tough start to the season, so we had to rely on our training down the stretch," said Kainalu Asam, who sat in the fifth seat on Kamehameha’s victorious crew.
"It gives us a lot of momentum. We knew we could beat their toughest crew, but we had to put it all together. We’re one paddle."
Asam could be heard shouting at his crewmates by a throng of onlookers, and the message appeared to work as the Warriors’ boat launched forward in the frenzied sprint to the finish. When asked about his words of encouragement, Asam explained that he was shouting "Hukiauau," a native Hawaiian term meaning to "pull."
"We just maintained focus and didn’t panic," said relieved Kamehameha steersman Ke‘ea Lum, who was joined in the winning canoe by Taylor Voeller, Tyler Silva, Justin Nichols and Kawika Kaleleiki.
Lum explained that the light, variable winds made for a challenging course and that Kamehameha and Punahou actually made contact on a few occasions near the final straightaway while jostling for position.
Le Jardin’s third-place finish netted the Bulldogs a slot in the First Hawaiian Bank/HHSAA State Paddling Championships slated for Feb. 7 at Maui’s Kahului Harbor behind Kamehameha and Punahou.
As Le Jardin steersman Mala‘e Wilcox explained, the opportunity to make it to the state races as a "small school" competing against "the big guys" was the team’s ultimate goal throughout the season.
"The top three go to Maui, and Punahou and Kamehameha have a lot more guys than us, so we’re glad to end up here," said Wilcox, a senior who helped guide Le Jardin to a seventh-place finish in last year’s state championship race.
"The shorter sprints involve a totally different course and mentality — we need to get ready for that."
Punahou locked up the mixed division (three boys and three girls) title despite finishing second on Tuesday, thanks in part to winning three races earlier in the season.
Mid-Pacific won the event in 20:34, and by doing so, secured the ILH’s third state berth. Kamehameha (21:58) clinched second place according to the season standings in the mixed division after finishing fourth behind the Buffanblu (21:19) and ‘Iolani (21:32).
The Owls’ victorious crew included: Greyson Tillman, Joshua Nichols, Keaka Rodrigues, Kai Wilding, Stephanie Wong and Lacie Choy.
Now, advancing ILH crews must re-tool their training methods and approach as they transition from long-distance races to the half-mile sprint format at states.
Kamehameha’s boys have won four of the past five state championships; their lone runner-up finish during that span came in 2012 when Punahou eked out a victory over the Warriors in Hilo Bay by less than two tenths of a second.
"Hats off to Kamehameha, I salute them," said longtime Punahou coach Rocky Higgins, whose crew included three juniors and three sophomores.
"They came back after losing two in a row, and I thought ‘Man, this is a great moment for us, we’re on our way.’ They rallied and really dialed in; it came down to another epic battle between Punahou and Kamehameha.
"I just told (Kamehameha’s coaching staff, including skipper Napali Woode), ‘Jeez, can you at least allow me one ILH championship? But, I told my guys, if you measure your success by only winning, then you’re going to have a rough life. You have to rally, come back and do it again."
